Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Buxus sempervirens cultivar Monrue.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Buxus, botanically known as Buxus sempervirens, commercially known as Boxwood, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Monruexe2x80x99.
The new Buxus is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Buxus sempervirens cultivar Graham Blandy, not patented. The new Buxus was discovered and selected by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Dayton, Oreg. in June, 1995, as a single plant within a population of plants of the cultivar Graham Blandy.
Asexual reproduction of the new Buxus by cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Dayton, Oreg., since the fall of 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Buxus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Monrue has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment and cultural practices such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Monruexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Monruexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Buxus: 
1. Upright and columnar plant habit.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Freely branching habit and short internodes, dense and bushy plant form.
4. Dark green foliage color that is retained throughout the year.
5. Relatively resistant to root rot pathogens common to Buxus. 
Plants of the new Buxus differ from plants of the parent, the cultivar Graham Blandy, in leaf coloration as plants of the cultivar Graham Blandy do not retain their green coloration during the winter. In addition, plants of the cultivar Graham Blandy are not as resistant to root rot pathogens, such as Phytophthora, than plants of the cultivar Monrue.
Plants of the new Buxus can be compared to plants of the Buxus cultivar Handsworthii, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Dayton, Oreg., plants of the new Buxus differed from plants of the cultivar Handsworthii in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Buxus had shorter internodes and were denser and bushier than plants of the cultivar Handsworthii.
2. Lateral branches of plants of the new Buxus were more flexible and not as upright as lateral branches of plants of the cultivar Handsworthii.
3. Plants of the new Buxus had flatter and thinner leaves than plants of the cultivar Handsworthii.
4. Plants of the new Buxus had lighter green-colored fully expanded foliage than plants of the cultivar Handsworthii.